Shasta Elementary set to reopen late February

More than five months ago, the oldest working elementary school in California was forced to close its doors after it suffered extensive damage from the Carr Fire.

The closing of the campus caused 147 students to be displaced during the first half of the Fall 2018 school year while the school waited for repairs.

However, now repairs are well underway on the historic Shasta Elementary site and the school's Superintendent has announced a timeline for reopening the campus.

Rob Adams, the Superintendent of the Redding, Igo-Ono and Shasta School Districts says while the campus has been closed the students who normally attend the Montessori school have been attending Igo-Ono Elementary School.

Since then, the fire damaged school has replaced the carpets, put up a new playground, and repaired the fire damaged buildings.

Yet, Adams says they're still in the process of completing a few remaining projects before reopening in February.

"We'd hoped we would be back in January. But it was just a tight timeline with some other things that had to be done so we're looking at the end of February and it looks like that's going to happen. We're going to be able to get them back in February. That will be the end of the second trimester, start of the third trimester for that school so it will be good timing as far as that goes," said Adams.

By then they hope to have the second playground installed, the kitchen refrigeration system fixed and the rest of the painting done around the school.

Once the students are allowed back on campus, Adams said the school district plans to host a community event recognizing the reopening of the school.